Bidding

A holographic projection three meters tall suddenly appeared on the platform in the middle of the room.

It showed a human with cyan scales covering his skin. He had six ears and four eyes, and wore a blood-red suit of armor covered in faint, mysterious patterns. Sharp spikes jutted from the joints at his shoulders, elbows, and knees, giving him a savage, bloodthirsty look.

He was a powerful member of the Seba Race from the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom. It was impossible to tell his level, since this was only a holographic projection, but he was probably at least Immortal Level.

The Seba Race expert bowed toward the audience and said, "Honored guests, I am Qika, and I will be hosting this medium-sized auction for the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom. We have spent a full three thousand years preparing for this event and have gathered a total of [missing number] auction items. I hope each of you finds something you like."

After speaking, Qika smiled and spread his hands. With a hint of excitement in his voice, he said, "Let's not waste time. We'll begin with a warm-up auction."

"These are ten Green Ancestor Hearts. They can increase the chance of a Peak World Lord Level Metal Lifeform evolving to Immortal Level by 3%. If you want your spaceship to become even more powerful, don't miss this opportunity!"

"The starting price is 3,000 Hunyuan, with a minimum increase of 100 Hunyuan per bid. Please enter your bids in the bidding area beside you. The auction starts now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a floating screen appeared in front of Luo Zhiyuan, displaying detailed information about the item and a bidding field. Luo Zhiyuan tapped the details, and an enlarged Green Ancestor Heart appeared on the platform in the middle of the room. It was about ten meters in diameter, with explanatory text floating beside it.

It was a green object shaped like a regular dodecahedron, with irregular protrusions on each face. Green light flowed between the adjacent faces, giving it an almost lifelike pulse.

The explanatory text was extensive. In essence, it said that different Metal Lifeforms faced different levels of difficulty when advancing to Immortal Level. However, using these ten Green Ancestor Hearts would increase any Metal Lifeform's chances of advancing by 3%—a significant boost. The text also listed various precautions for using them.

By the time Luo Zhiyuan finished checking the details, bidding was already underway. The price quickly rose from 3,000 Hunyuan to 5,000, then 6,000, 6,800, 7,000... It climbed to 9,000, then 9,200 and 9,500, with the increases slowing until it finally stopped at 9,800 Hunyuan.

"9,800 Hunyuan! Three seconds left: three, two, one—sold! Congratulations to the winning bidder. May your Metal Lifeform successfully advance to Immortal Level and become a powerful asset!" Qika announced loudly.

Then Qika raised his right arm and said excitedly, "Now, the auction officially begins! Up next is the first batch of auction items, one hundred items in total. Please pay attention, and get ready to bid if you see something you like."

After pausing for about five seconds, Qika began a rapid introduction. "The first item is a set of the Nine Great Divine Weapons of the Controller, containing all nine Controller Divine Weapons. That's right—even the incredibly rare Universe Bead, which fuses the Laws of Space and Time, is included!"

"Twelve sets are up for auction. The starting price is 100 Hunyuan, with a minimum increase of 10 Hunyuan per bid. The twelve highest bidders will each win one set. Bidding starts now!"

Luo Zhiyuan hadn't expected the first item in the first batch to be the Nine Great Divine Weapons of the Controller set he'd been eyeing. He froze for a moment before Bulieni shouted, "Luo, what are you staring at? The bidding's already started! Hurry up and bid!"

Snapping back to his senses, Luo Zhiyuan quickly glanced at the floating screen. The price had already reached 210 Hunyuan. He hurriedly entered 300 Hunyuan in the bidding field, but was quickly outbid at 330, 350, 380...

Luo Zhiyuan gritted his teeth and entered 500 Hunyuan. No one outbid him after that, and the price held until Qika announced loudly, "The bidding is over! Congratulations to the twelve guests who successfully won a set of these weapons. May the strength of your World Lord warriors increase greatly!"

A notification appeared on the screen in front of Luo Zhiyuan: "Congratulations, customer XXX. You have successfully won one set of the Nine Great Divine Weapons of the Controller, item number XXX. Please send your shipping address to the Virtual Universe System within one day of the auction's conclusion. We will provide free delivery and inform you of the estimated delivery time. Please be ready to receive your item."

Only after hearing Qika's announcement did Luo Zhiyuan realize that most people buying the Nine Great Divine Weapons of the Controller were likely Immortal Experts purchasing them for their World Lord warriors. He was probably the only one buying a set for himself. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he'd gotten one.

Luo Zhiyuan had another idea, though it was still half-formed. He hadn't mentioned it to Bulieni yet, since he didn't know whether Bulieni would support it or dismiss it. After all, pursuing it would certainly take a lot more time.

He had already comprehended the Origin Laws of Light and Time, and his teacher had left him a Beast God Avatar. Comprehending those two Origin Laws wouldn't be a problem.

But Luo Zhiyuan also wanted to try comprehending the Law of Space. After all, Teleportation was an excellent way to save his life.

Luo Zhiyuan had big ambitions and plenty of ideas. Bulieni had told him that his lifespan was more than ten times longer than that of an ordinary human. That meant he could spend much longer at World Lord Level, the stage when it was fastest to comprehend laws, and make the most of that time to comprehend as many universe laws as possible and build a solid foundation.

If he managed to comprehend the Law of Space, he'd have more options after advancing to Immortal Level. He wouldn't be restricted to his teacher's path of Fusion Law; he might even be able to follow the path of the Space-Time Law.

So, apart from the Shadow Divine Weapon, he might have a use for other weapons among the nine Controller Divine Weapons as well. For example, the five weapons belonging to the Law of Space series. Even the ninth weapon, the Universe Bead, might not be beyond his reach. Buying the set was definitely worth it!

The auction continued, and many items Luo Zhiyuan had never heard of appeared. He only opened their details out of curiosity and didn't buy anything else, until Qika began introducing another item:

"Next is the final item in the eighth batch: a Machine Race E9-class spaceship. It has excellent maneuverability, strong defenses, and the ability to repair itself. It's one of the best-equipped E-class spaceships available."

"The starting price is 1,000 Hunyuan, with a minimum increase of 100 Hunyuan per bid. Please enter your bids in the bidding area beside you. Bidding starts now!"

Bulieni sprang up from Luo Zhiyuan's shoulder and shouted, "Luo, check the details! The catalog only has a brief description. I want to know all the pros and cons of the spaceship I'm about to take over! Hurry!"

Luo Zhiyuan immediately operated the floating screen in front of him and tapped the details. A miniature white, pyramid-shaped Machine Race Spaceship appeared on the platform in the middle of the room. It was about ninety meters tall, and a large amount of explanatory text floated beside it. Bulieni also carefully studied the details.

The text explained that the spaceship belonged to an Immortal Expert of the Machine Race and had been captured on the Outer Battlefield. It was 1,500 meters long and had a pyramid-shaped structure.

The entire spaceship was made from self-repairing E9-class alloy. More than two-thirds of its interior was devoted to the engine compartment, greatly improving its acceleration and evasive maneuverability. Its performance was comparable to an F9-Grade Spaceship.

Its top speed could reach fifteen times the speed of light, and it was equipped with a force field that could withstand E9-class attacks. This meant that any attack below Immortal Level could be completely ignored.

The spaceship also had five Star Annihilator Cannons and eighteen E5-Grade Laser Cannons. The Star Annihilator Cannons could unleash attacks with Immortal Level power, while the eighteen E5-Grade Laser Cannons were positioned throughout the ship, leaving no blind spots in its attack coverage.

Its first drawback was that it had no Detector. The Machine Race's Detectors were probably expensive, so this one had likely been removed and taken away or sold separately.

The second drawback was its high energy consumption, since the engine compartment required a large amount of power.

The third was that it offered little protection against Soul Attacks, weakening them by only a third. This meant it couldn't effectively reduce the power of an enemy's Soul Attack.

By the time Luo Zhiyuan finished checking the details, bidding was already underway. The price quickly rose from 1,000 Hunyuan to 2,000, then slowed: 2,500, 2,800, 3,100... Luo Zhiyuan entered 3,400 Hunyuan, and the bidding stopped there.

"3,400 Hunyuan! Three seconds left: three, two, one—sold! Congratulations! You've won a fine spaceship. May it accompany you on your travels through the universe for many years to come!" Qika announced loudly, then continued the auction.

When Bulieni saw that Luo Zhiyuan had won the Machine Race Spaceship, he excitedly patted his shoulder. "Haha, I'll finally have a body! Luo, with me controlling this spaceship, you won't have to worry about anyone below Immortal Level. I can handle them all. Even an ordinary Immortal could only keep me busy for a while! Haha!"

Seeing Bulieni's smug expression, Luo Zhiyuan laughed along with him.

"Next is the third item in the tenth batch: Luo Ke Divine Water. It contains an exceptionally high concentration of 'life energy.' I won't go into its uses; all of you should already know. One cubic meter per unit, twenty units in total. The starting price is 50 Hunyuan per unit."

"The minimum increase is 1 Hunyuan per bid. The twenty highest bidders will each win a unit of Luo Ke Divine Water. Please enter your bids in the bidding area beside you. Bidding starts now!"

Luo Zhiyuan was startled when he heard the name Luo Ke Divine Water. Most of the auction items so far had been unfamiliar, but Luo Ke Divine Water had made a deep impression on him in the original Swallowed Star. It was the first immense fortune Luo Feng had stumbled upon.

Afraid he'd misheard, Luo Zhiyuan immediately opened the detailed description. A liquid that constantly radiated cold air appeared on the platform. The text beside it explained the origin and uses of the Luo Ke Divine Water.

This miraculous item had been named after Luo Ke, a powerful human who had appeared shortly after the universe's birth. Luo Ke had discovered the Luo Ke Divine Water by chance in a Universe Secret Realm and found that it contained astonishing life energy. It could be used to cultivate plant life and heal the body.

It really was the Luo Ke Divine Water from the original novel!

Luo Zhiyuan was delighted, then immediately thought of a problem. His teacher had prepared Star-Eating Grass for him, but had he also prepared anything to cultivate it? If not, he needed to buy the Luo Ke Divine Water.

"Bulieni, did my teacher prepare resources for cultivating the Star-Eating Grass? If not, this Luo Ke Divine Water seems like a pretty good treasure. Should we buy some?"

Bulieni was still caught up in his excitement. At Luo Zhiyuan's question, he replied dismissively, "Luo Ke Divine Water? We don't need that junk. Secret Realm Spirit Marrow will easily cultivate Star-Eating Grass to Perfect Level Peak World Lord. Even the item needed to break through to Immortal Level has already been prepared."

"Besides, cultivating it with Secret Realm Spirit Marrow has a huge benefit for plant life. By improving its soul, the marrow greatly increases its chances of advancing to Immortal Level—by at least 10%!"

Hearing that they didn't need to buy any, Luo Zhiyuan felt relieved. But then he thought that it might be nice to buy one unit as a keepsake. His savings could easily cover this little expense, so he spent 93 Hunyuan on one unit of Luo Ke Divine Water.

When he explained to Bulieni that he was buying it as a keepsake, Bulieni teased him for a while, leaving Luo Zhiyuan speechless.

A while later, another item Luo Zhiyuan recognized appeared: Purple Star Fruit. It was used to cultivate Immortal Level plant life and could help those below World Lord Level break through in their cultivation. The starting price was 80 Hunyuan per unit, with twenty Purple Star Fruits in each unit.

When Bulieni saw it, he shouted, "This one's good! Buy it, Luo! Buy it all! Old Mystic always kept these around as snacks, so they must taste good. Buy plenty, and you'll have something to munch on later!"

Luo Zhiyuan's eyes lit up. "You're right! I've wanted to try them for ages. And they can help with cultivation, too. Best of both worlds!"

Bulieni looked at Luo Zhiyuan as if he were an idiot. "What do you need them to help you break through for? Didn't I tell you that your bloodline is the best there is and can carry you smoothly to World Lord Level? For you, these are just snacks."

"Of course, they're not very expensive, but a fruit only grows once every epoch. You're lucky they're available this time. There's no guarantee you'll find any the next time you want them!"

"If you weren't always saying this tastes bad and that tastes mediocre, I wouldn't have brought them up. Hurry and bid, or you'll miss out!"

With Bulieni urging him on, Luo Zhiyuan eventually bought fifteen units—a total of three hundred Purple Star Fruits—for prices ranging from 170 to 230 Hunyuan.

After that, Luo Zhiyuan added another category to his list of things to watch for: edible materials. Whenever he saw one, he would buy a sample so he could try it.